Sweet and Personal Commentary

Simple Vanilla I have been making and enjoying ice cream

since I was very young. It was a family

Ice cream
tradition when I was little to make ice cream
from snow on winter nights. I clearly
remember putting cream, sugar, vanilla, and
sprinkles into little plastic baggies. Then
venturing into the frosty night to gather the
snow that would freeze our cream.
Eventually my mom bought an ice cream
maker so that we could more easily make ice
cream. When we got bored with making plain
vanilla my mom and I began experimenting
with different types of milk in the ice cream:
oat, coconut, cashew. They may seem like
odd choices, but soon enough homemade
peanut butter cashew milk ice cream became
my favorite kind of ice cream. This simple yet
sweet vanilla ice cream gave me the chance
to tamper with one of the most important
parts of food-texture- without drastically
affecting the flavor of the ice cream.

Ingredients
● 12 fluid ounces of whole milk
● 150 grams (¼ cups) of granulated sugar
● 0.5 fluid ounces of vanilla extract
Ready in 1 hour - 1 hour 30 minutes
● 20 fluid ounces of half and half
Serves 6 people

Equipment
Tips
● Spatula
For a creamier and more aerated ice cream; whisk ● Mixing bowl
or blend the mixture before curing it in the ice ● Ice cream maker
cream maker. To keep your ice cream cold for as ● Blender/whisk (optional)
long as possible, consider putting your ice cream
maker in the freezer the night before you are
going to use it.
Directions
1. Put the base of your ice cream maker in the
freezer 1-2 hours before you begin
preparing the ingredients.
2. Chill the milk and half and half.
3. Mix all of the liquid ingredients together in a
mixing bowl.
4. Add granulated sugar to the mixture. Mix
the sugar into the mixture until it is nearly
completely dissolved.
5. Remove the ice cream maker from the
freezer and turn on the machine. Slowly add
all of the mixture into the ice cream maker
while it runs.
6. Let the mixture churn the ice cream maker
until it has frozen to your desired
consistency. This should take about 30
minutes to an hour.
7. Remove the ice cream from the ice cream
maker and either freeze until you are ready
to eat it or eat it immediately.

Experiment Design and
Results
Testable Question
How does the percent of overrun in a batch
of ice cream affect the rate at which it
melts?
Hypothesis
The higher percentage of air in the ice
cream will result in the ice cream melting
slower.
For this experiment, I sought to observe the
relationship between the percent of air, or
overrun, in the ice cream and the time it
takes a certain volume of ice cream to melt.
I tested 4 batches of ice cream, each with a
different overrun. To manipulate the overrun
in each batch of ice cream I used three
different methods: the first method was
blending the pre-frozen cream-sugar-vanilla-
mixture, the second was whisking the
mixture, and the third method was curing the
ice cream (in our ice cream maker) for a
longer period than the non-treated batch.
Each method successfully added different
amounts of air to each batch; the blended
mixture yielded ice cream with 87.5%
overrun, whisking yielded ice cream with
50%, churning for one hour yielded 14.57%
overrun, and churning for 45 minutes yielded
4.17% overrun. To find the overrun of the ice
creams I measured the volume of the mixture
before I froze and aerated it, then I measured
the volume after freezing and aeration. I then
took the percentage of the difference
between the initial volume and the final
volume. This method of measuring could be
slightly skewed because the final volume
could have been increased slightly by the
formation of ice crystals.
To find the quantitative data I tested the
melting rate of each batch of ice cream after
they had sat for at least 12 hours in the
freezer. I measured out ¼ of a cup of each
batch and placed it on an elevated metal
mesh that equalized with the temperature of
the room. I then set a timer and recorded
when all of the ice cream had melted through
the mesh. The ice cream with the most
overrun, 87.5%, melted in 42 minutes and 12
seconds. Whereas the batch of ice cream
with the least amount of overrun, 4.17%,
took the most time to fully melt, in 72
minutes and 44 seconds. The two batches
with overruns that fall between 87.5% and
4.17% also had melting times that fell
between the two extremes of melting times
of batches.
As the percent of overrun increases the amount of time
taken to melt decreases.
In addition to measuring the melting rate I
also measured the quantitative data of the
change in density between before the ice
cream was churned and after it was churned.
I found that across the board the density
decreased after the ice cream underwent
some kind of churning, which was expected
as I was adding air to the ice cream. The
amount that the density of the ice cream
decreased also correlated with the percent
of overrun in the ice cream: Ice cream that less numbing the ice cream will be to the
had the lowest overrun, 4.17%, had the taste testers tongue. So the ice cream will be
smallest decrease of density of 6.21%. And
the ice cream that had the highest amount of
overrun, 87.5%, had the largest decrease in
density, of 51.85%, after being churned.
% Overrun v. % Decrease in Density
(% Overrun x-axis, % Decrease in Density y-axis)

perceived as being more flavorful.

Batch A(14.57% overrun) has an even distribution of
ratings whereas B(87.50% overrun) and D (87.50%
overrun) were ranked more highly than the others.

None of the other qualitative data seemed to

correlate with the quantitative data.
The quantitative data disproved my original
As the percentage of overrun increases in the ice cream hypothesis. The data instead pointed to the
the amount the post-mixed ice cream’s density
decreases becomes greater.
fact that the ice cream with a higher
percentage of overrun melted much faster
To collect qualitative data I performed a
than ice cream with lower overruns. I believe
taste test that assessed the creaminess,
that this resulted from the method of the
thickness, strength of flavor, sweetness, and
melting test, where I measured the ice cream
how fast each batch of ice cream seemed to
to melt it by volume instead of measuring by
melt in the tester’s mouths. I gathered this
mass.
data from 6 participants in a blind test. There
seemed to be only one dataset that
correlated to any of the quantitative data:
the strength of flavor. Batch A, which had
14.57% overrun, had a more even
distribution, however, batch B and D,
respectively with 87.50% and 87.50%
overrun were ranked higher for the strength
of flavor. This suggests that the higher the
amount of overrun in ice cream the stronger
the ice cream flavor is. The strength of flavor
also correlates with the melting time of the
ice cream because the more quickly the
temperature of the ice cream increases, the

Science
Melting Rate
Any good ice cream is frozen. What this
means is that the molecules of fat, protein,
water, and even air have less kinetic energy
or the energy of motion. When a substance,
in this case, our ice cream, has less kinetic
energy the molecules move around and
bounce off of other molecules in the
substance more slowly and less frequently. If
a substance were warmer, meaning it has a
higher average kinetic energy, then the
molecules would move and bounce off of
each other much more frequently, quickly,
and with more force.
Ice creams with more overrun( the percent of
the air in the ice cream) tend to melt more
quickly than the same amount of ice cream
with a lower overrun. To raise the
temperature of the ice cream enough to
make a phase change (from solid to liquid)
the molecules of the ice cream must absorb
energy from the ambient environment. Ice
cream with more overrun needs less energy
than ice cream with a lower overrun to make
a phase change because the more overrun ice
cream has the less dense the ice cream is.
Density has a role to play in the melting rate
of a certain volume of substance because in
that specific volume, for example, one cup of
ice cream, a dense ice cream will have more
mass whereas a less dense ice cream (one
with more overrun) will have less mass. A
substance with less mass will need to absorb
less energy to raise its temperature enough
to reach a point where it can make a phase
change. This is because fewer molecules
need energy so each joule of energy applied
to the mass can affect the entire substance
more quickly than a substance with more
mass.
In the case of this experiment, the ice cream
with 87.50% overrun had a density of 0.54
g/ml, a mass of 576 grams, and melted in 42
minutes. Where the ice cream with the
lowest overrun of 4.17% had a density of
1.00 g/ml, a mass of 594 grams, and melted in
72 minutes. The first batch of ice cream had
about half the density of the second batch
and took a little less than half the amount of
time for the second batch to melt. Although
the 87.50% overrun ice cream and the 4.17%
overrun ice cream were put into the same
conditions their masses were different
because I melted ¼ cup of each. So I was
actually melting less ice cream in the 87.50%
overrun batch.
Strength of Flavor
Ice creams with a higher percentage of
overrun will have smaller air cells. This is due
to the shear stress that is applied to the ice
cream and subsequently the air cells by the
continual rotation of the blade. This blade
also incorporates more air into the ice cream,
which results in more aerated ice creams
having smaller air pockets. These smaller air
pockets pack more tightly together with less
space around and in between the air cells for
ice crystals to form. This leads to the ice
crystals being smaller and more dispersed in
the ice cream. Smaller air pockets and ice
crystals along with density, melting rate, air
cell size, ice crystal size, and ice crystal
distribution the ice creams with higher
percentages of overrun would have had
slightly stronger flavors. This is because ice
cream with a higher overrun melt more
quickly. This means that by the time the
participants of the taste test tested the ice
creams with higher overruns their
temperature could have increased more than
the ice creams with lower overruns. This
would make the ice creams with higher
overruns taste stronger because they are
less cold and less numbing to the tongue. The
smaller, more dispersed ice crystals may have
affected how little the more aerated ice
cream numbed the tongue by melting more
quickly in the mouth and staying on the
tongue for a shorter time. Overall, there are
quite a few correlating factors that affect the
perceived intensity of the ice cream’s flavor.

Work Cited
Icecreamscience. (2017, May 3). Air in ice cream. Ice Cream Science. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from
http://icecreamscience.com/air-in-ice-cream/#:~:text=OVERRUN%20IN%20ICE%20CREAM,overrun%20(Arbu
ckle%2C%201977)

Interest, P. author

B. C., Θσsays:, Θ. Σ.- ∂³Σ.-, Interestsays:, C., SPAUG | The Chemistry of Ice Cream – Components,
Perkinssays:, T., Rand0Monesays: The Chemistry of Ice Cream {Infographic} - Best Infographicssays:
Slayerwulfesays: The chemistry of ice cream « Quotulatiousnesssays: Ice Cream Science | A2Z
Homeschoolingsays: ნაყინის ქიმია • Ice-Cream-Chemistry – Dea Gogishvilisays: & Ice Cream Social: Personal
&Private Chefs should Consider Homemadesays: (2015, July 14). The chemistry of ice cream – components,
structure, & flavour. Compound Interest. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from
https://www.compoundchem.com/2015/07/14/ice-cream/

panelH.D.Goff1W.K.Jordan, A. links open overlay, H.D.Goff1, 1, W.K.Jordan, & AbstractSeveral emulsifiers have
been examined in ice cream processing to determine their relative emulsion destabilizing power. The hydrophilic
lipophilic balance value of the emulsifier did not account for all of the differences in destabilization; howe. (2010,
April 12). Action of emulsifers in promoting fat destabilization during the manufacture of Ice Cream. Journal of Dairy
Science. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030289790755#:~:text=Fat%20destabilization%20res
ults%20from%20the,in%20a%20typical%20barrel%20freezer

panelM.R.Muse1R.W.Hartel2PersonEnvelope, A. links open overlay, M.R.Muse1, 1, R.W.Hartel2PersonEnvelope,

2, & AbstractStatistical models were developed to reveal which structural elements of ice cream affect melting
rate and hardness. Ice creams were frozen in a batch freezer with three types of sweetener. (2010, March 20). Ice
cream structural elements that affect melting rate and hardness. Journal of Dairy Science. Retrieved December 6,
2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030204731355

YouTube. (2014). YouTube. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rlapUkWCSM&list=PLtLT74crQcwXifCszpuk21I4ye3ghf-kV&index=16.